 |
E.O.
9066
|
|
Never
Again (Mo, Shimasen!)
|
|
1. |
Prelude
|
|
6. |
Pika
Don
|
|
2. |
Loco-Motif/Taiko Trane
|
|
7. |
11:02
AM, August 9, 1945
|
|
3. |
Ichikotsu-Cho
|
|
8. |
Hachijo Taiko
|
|
4. |
General's Order
|
|
9. |
Kane-Juju
|
|
5. |
Rhymes
(for Children)
|
|
10. |
Anthem
|
Anthony
Brown's Liner Notes to "Family"
Recorded
live in New York City in 1996, Family features two original
extended works composed by Anthony Brown and performed
by his quintet Eclipse with San Jose Taiko.
The
first piece, E.O. 9066 (which was Franklin Roosevelt's
executive order authorizing the internment of Japanese
Americans during WWII) commemorates the courageous spirit of
those unjustly imprisoned and ends on a celebratory note with
hope for a future that will not see the imprisonment of
children.
The
second piece, Never Again (Mo, Shimasen!) was
commissioned by the Asian Heritage Council and commemorates
the 50th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. The work combines musical influences from Japan and
West Africa, cultures in which drums play a central role. The
piece was written to represent basic life forces, with the
drums signifying the heartbeat and the wind instruments the
breath of life. The title expresses the plea of successive
generations of children that they never experience the horror
of nuclear war.
The
finale is an anthem in celebration of the indomitable human
spirit rising from the ashes of ruin in rebirth and
rejuvenation.
— Anthony
Brown, Ph.D.
top
of page
|
